Cloudberry cookies

To the uninitiated, a cloudberry might seem a whimsical fruit to
be picked from the cloud forest. Or perhaps it is a made-up berry
from a Moomin story, something Moomin Mama might have
to search the forest for, past the ghost-shaped Hattifatners and
avoiding the icy breath of The Groke. In fact it grows in swamps,
bogs and marshes and rather romantically ripens under the
24-hour midnight sun. I can only think that cloudberries are
so-called because the watery meadows where they grow reflect
the skies in all their miraculous formations.

Cloudberries (‘lakka’) are an Arctic delicacy of Finland, Sweden
and Norway and used to be known as ‘Arctic gold’ because small
farmers could boost their incomes by selling them at the manor
houses of the iron-ore mine owners. Prices have reached
10 Euros per kilo, although unfortunately this year’s cloudberry
harvest was small due to the cold nights in early summer.
This recipe comes from Tillmans, the Swedish sellers of organic
fruit saft (cordial) and cloudberry jam. These delicious cookies,
with their luminous puddle of cloudberry jam, provide a selfreferential
ending for the berry, as it reflects the sky once again,
but this time from the cookie.

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/gas mark 2. Cream the butter and sugar
together in a mixing bowl. Add the egg yolk and flour and mix well
until a dough forms. Roll the dough into 12 small balls and dip
them in the egg white, then roll them in the chopped walnuts.
Place the balls of dough on a baking sheet. Press down the centres
gently with your thumb to make a small depression in each.
Bake for 5 minutes, then press the centres again to reform. Bake
for another 10–15 minutes. While they’re still warm, fill the
centres with jam.